Vol. VIII, No. 3..................... NEWSLETTER ...................July 2004

RIVER RANCH CHAPEL ENJOYS GROWTH

River Ranch Chapel has had a great increase in spirit as well as in growth in the last few months. Much of this is due to the recent building expansion and to the fact that more and more people are coming to the Ranch because of Westgate. Dr. Futch states the average attendance and offerings are the best of any summer, and the enthusiasm continues even as the summer is now upon us.

During services, Dr. Futch usually asks the members to greet and welcome the visitors. This time of year with visitors far outnumbering the members, he sometimes asks the visitors to greet and welcome the members. We are happy to have our visitors and new members, but we also miss our people who are away for the summer. We are already looking forward to their return in the fall and winter months.

The warm loving spirit continues at the Chapel whether we have 30 or 300 in attendance. God has been, and continues to be good to us. We are grateful for His many blessings.

You will love how the landscape and yards look as you return. The Chapel is quite busy with church groups and weddings this summer. Once again the Chapel is part of the life of the Ranch and in many cases the central focal point.

2005 PULPIT EXCHANGE

In the early summer of 2005 Dr. and Mrs. Futch will again participate in a pulpit exchange. This time it will be with a Baptist church in Bristol, England. Bristol is located on the West coast of Great Britain which is on about the same parallel with London. The church is new and is still meeting in temporary quarters in a rented facility. It is sponsored by the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The pastor is the Reverend Kevin Donaghy. He and his wife Linda and their eight year old daughter Anna will be our guests for the four week exchange.

This will be the third exchange for Dr. and Mrs. Futch. In the past years they have served in London, England and Kirkcaldy, Scotland, with a brief visit in Northland Ireland at the Dungannon Baptist Church in Dungannon, N. I.

While in London the exchange was with the Selsdon Baptist Church near the city of Croydon. The Reverend Michael Elcome is the pastor of the church. His wife, Caroline and their three daughters were our guests in 2001.

In Kirkcaudy, Scotland in 2002 the exchange was with the Pathhead Baptist Church. The Reverend Dr. David Greenaway is the pastor. He along with his wife Pearl and their son were our guests in the exchange.

Pray for the exchange in 2005 as plans are developing for a visit of the Futch and Donaghy families in June and July next year.

Quaterly Report

Date	Attendance	Offering
Apr. 4	182	$2,629.00
Apr. 11	255	$2,622.00
Apr. 18	122	$1,685.00
Apr. 25	81	$1,326.00
May 2	73	$1,173.00
May 9	27	$789.00
May 16	50	$723.00
May 23	46	$1,010.00
May 30	51	$231.00
Jun 6	41	$656.00
Jun 13	28	$153.00
Jun 20	42	$363.00
Jun 27	29	$1,886.00
Average	79	$1,172.77

What a difference a year makes. The first six months of 2004 our average attendance has been 166 per Sunday. The first six months in 2003 our average attendance per Sunday was 134. That’s an increase of 32 per Sunday over the same period last year. Praise the Lord! The figures are just as impressive in the regular offerings. (Bear in mind that these figures do not include special offerings or building fund offerings.) For the first six months of 2004 our regular offering averaged $1527,23. For the first six months of 2003 our regular offerings averaged $1272.99. That’s an average of $254.24 per Sunday over the first six months a year ago.

God has certainly blessed River Ranch Chapel. The increases continue to come year after year and for this we all are truly thankful. We give God all the Glory. Now that we have adequate seating, we expect the attendance, spiritual growth and offerings to continue to increase. In the coming year we will be placing more emphasis on spiritual growth and deeper life commitments. It’s easy to be excited about physical growth. Now let’s grow spiritually.

RIVER RANCH NEWS

Westgate continues to move along with it’s plan to improve the ranch. The greatest news for most of our readers is that the nine holes of the golf course are being reconstructed and is planned to be ready for use by Thanksgiving, weather permitting. In any event it should be playable by January one. Because of the golf course work, the planned water park has been delayed until next year.

Beginning in the next few weeks will be the construction of the hanger homes near the airport runway and the building of four new duplex timeshare condos. The condos will be located near the three that are already finished.

The ranch now has a heard of ten buffalos and are to receive a small heard of long horn cows in the near future. There are a few new colts that have been born at the ranch in the last few weeks. They are fun to watch as they scamper and play in the corral which is located across the street from the church.

There are many people at the ranch each weekend because of the invited guests of Westgate. Some of these visit the chapel for worship. This has helped to keep our attendance average above a year ago.

Leroy Mason, the general manager, is doing a great job. We are all thankful for his interest in and support of the chapel.

Of interest to all is that the four lane on highway 60 is finished to just past Indian Lake Estates. The haven’t changed the speed limit yet but that is another department and the will get around to it in there own sweet time.

FUND RAISING COMMITTEE NEWS

The Fund Raising Committee has some new and exciting plans for the next season. This years committee is chaired by Alice Long, with Ruth Crawford, Billie Kebert, Paula Franklin, Laura Murray, Joan Lang, and Joan Werlitzer as members. Some of the plans include the:

Annual Fish Fry – Jan. 15th

Dinner Theater – Early Feb.

Auction – Feb. 24th

One of the emphasis of the committee is to make the activities more exciting; thus making some of the events FUN RAISING EVENTS as well as fund raising. Of course there will still be the promotion of the COOKBOOK sales and other special projects yet to be announced.
You may order Cookbooks @ $14.00 each which includes shipping. And Dedication Day Services CDs @ $10.00 each which includes shipping.

Make checks payable to River Ranch Chapel.
Send order, check and address to:
River Ranch Chapel % Dan Futch
5050 Lake Pierce Dr. Lake Wales, FL 33898

DR. WARD BOND TO SPEAK

Early next year Dr. Ward Bond will be speaking in a seminar at the Chapel. WARD W. BOND, PH.D., is widely known from his writings, his television and radio appearances, and his lectures, as one of America’s most prominent authorities on many subjects of health. Dr. Bond’s teachings on health are more than just receiving nutritional information. He combines nutrition and herbal medicine, and incorporates it with God’s Word. Dr. Bond encourages people that healing can come from all areas the Lord has given us to be healthy.Ward Bond hosts the daily Christian television program, Nutritional Living with Ward Bond, a program dedicated to disseminating information about nutrition, herbal medicine, and other logical areas of interest that pertain to alternative medicine. The popular television show is shown across America via cable and satellite.
River Ranch Chapel is fortunate to have a person of Dr. Bond’s ability and expertise visit us this coming season. A date will be announced in the next newsletter.

PASTOR’S MESSAGE

This summer Grace and I have been extremely busy taking care of the flock. Much of it by long distance. In late May we went to see our daughter Cathy receive her Masters Degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina. At the same time my mother was in the hospital in Atlanta and we spent some time with her and then Grace spent three weeks caring for her after she left the hospital. In the midst of all this we shuttled back and forth to the mountains of NC and TN. We visited some of our church folks in the areas and had a wonderful time. Now Grace leaves again on the 26th to go help my mother.